1. Field of Endeavor
1.1. Intravenous fluid and red cell mass resuscitation are an integral part of modern medicine practice in a variety of medical fields. The administration of intravenous fluid and red cell mass replacement measures is a common practice during surgery and is indispensable in the management of many nonsurgical medical conditions. It is often a crucial component in areas such as (1) patients undergoing elective, urgent or emergent surgical or obstetrical procedures, (2) patients who elect not to be transfused, (3) patients undergoing treatment in intensive care and toxicology units, (4) critically-ill patients (5) dehydrated patients, and so on.
1.2. The present invention is focused on the administration of blood transfusion therapy for patients with preexisting blood loss or massive bleeding, also for patients undergoing surgery and other procedures in which significant blood loss occurs or is expected. This includes but is not limited to: (1) patients undergoing major urgent or emergent surgery and obstetrical procedures, major surgery or organ transplantation (2) patients with preexisting blood disorders or acquired deficiency states secondary to bleeding, (3) critically-ill patients.
1.3. The present invention applies to both inpatient and outpatient surgical or hematology settings, and to procedures performed in operating rooms, intensive care units and other locations (e.g., interventional radiology or surgery wards) where blood transfusion therapy is indicated. This new invention is directly applicable to the care administered by anesthesiologists, intensive care doctors, surgeons and individuals who deliver care under their medical direction or supervision.
1.4. The present invention relates to the mathematical model for determining the hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit specific circulating red cell mass and total blood volume that are crucial in plasma dilution evaluation, also calculating rates of intravenous fluid infusions and amounts of packed red blood cell transfusion.
1.5. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the total blood volume, circulating red cell mass and plasma hydration from blood hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit deployed in a nomogram (i,ii) (See references listed after Abstract on Pg.) as trends of hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit ratio (iii) known as mean cell hemoglobin concentration.
2. Description of the Related Art
2.1. Under the existing processes, blood hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration are probably the most frequently obtained blood tests in both outpatients and inpatients. They are the classic parameters used for tracing plasma dilution in evaluation of infusion therapy and serving as indirect criteria of blood erythrocyte content and oxygen carrying capacity in evaluation of bleeding and guiding blood transfusion strategies. The ratio blood hemoglobin concentration to hematocrit is referred to as mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) in red blood test results.